


I have been a fool for lesser things

by LailaLiquorice



Category: Six - Marlow/Moss
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Drink Spiking, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, First Kiss, Fluff, Hospitals, Hurt/Comfort, Love Confessions, Love Letters, aragon is best mum, it hurts at first but then it gets s o f t
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-25
Updated: 2019-06-25
Packaged: 2020-05-19 07:04:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19351903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LailaLiquorice/pseuds/LailaLiquorice
Summary: Cathy falls victim to getting her drink spiked while she and Anne are out together. But a terrible evening leads to a happy ending.





	1. I don't care what consequence it brings

It was tradition for the queens to go down to the pub for an evening out; it was their favourite way of celebrating the end of a long week, all squashed around a table and relaxing with drinks in hand in each other’s company. But today found Anne at a different pub than their favourite local tavern, and in an unusual though not unwelcome change there was only one other queen with her.

“Here’s to a spontaneous night out,” Cathy said, chinking her raspberry gin against Anne’s vodka lemonade as they sat down at a free table. It was earlier than they usually went out because neither of them had performed that night, since it had been Anne’s random show off and Cathy had scheduled the day off so she could attend a conference.

As a result, when Cathy got home to find a very bored Anne she’d suggested they wander down to the new bar they’d been meaning to try out for a while, and Anne had been eager to agree. The thought that she was essentially on an unofficial date with Cathy kept circling around her mind but she kept shoving it down. “Here here,” she echoed, taking a generous swig of her drink while Cathy only sipped hers lightly. “So how was the conference?” she asked, remembering how excited Cathy had been before she set off that morning.

“Really interesting thank you. It’s nice to actually be taught something for a change; doing my own research is all well and good but you can learn a lot by being lectured by someone as knowledgeable as the Professor was. I had plenty of questions for her afterwards,” Cathy said, her face lit up by her smile. Anne always thought she practically glowed whenever she started to ramble about something that interested her, and she could have listened to her talk forever. After several minutes of Cathy talking about everything she’d been told, she cleared her throat slightly sheepishly and added “Sorry if that was more than you wanted to know. How was your day?”

Anne laughed, shaking her head. “I asked ‘cause I wanted to know, you don’t need to be sorry,” she said, grinning when Cathy’s shy smile returned. “And I just got stuff done really, dealt with the laundry that Jane was ready to murder me over and tidied my room. Was a bit lonely though so this is really nice, thanks for the suggestion.”

Cathy shrugged, still smiling at Anne as she said “You’re very welcome, it’s a lovely end to a lovely day.”

When their drinks were both running low, Anne downed the remainder of hers before insisting on getting refills for them both. Cathy watched her go with a fond smile, too preoccupied by chastising herself for her stupidly fast heartbeat whenever Anne smiled at her to notice that she wasn’t alone until she heard a male voice say “Hello sweetheart.”

Cathy almost jumped, looking around to see the man who had slid into Anne’s seat. “Oh, hello,” she said, not trying particularly hard to feign interest.

“Haven’t seen you around before. What brings a pretty girl out here alone tonight?”

“No, I usually go somewhere else,” Cathy replied, not bothering to answer his second question. She avoided his gaze as she drank the rest of her drink, hoping he’d be put off by her disinterest and leave her alone.

To her frustration though, he only smiled a little wider. “Well, I’d say you have a good choice in bars then. Can I get you another drink?”

Cathy shook her head, sneaking a quick glance towards the bar to try and see if Anne was on her way back yet. “No thank you, my friend is already getting me another,” she said, voice a little firmer as she refused his offer.

His smug look faltered for a moment, then fell altogether at the sound of someone coughing pointedly just before Cathy felt someone’s arms over her shoulders. “Hey hun, who’s come to join us?” Anne asked, resting her head close to Cathy’s as she stared down the stranger.

“Oh, you didn’t say it was that sort of friend, I’ll be out of your way,” the man said hurriedly, not looking at Cathy as he practically stumbled in his haste to get out of Anne’s chair. Cathy watched silently as he disappeared into the crowd, too distracted by the feeling of Anne’s breath against her neck to say anything.

Anne gave a low chuckle before moving round the table to sit back down,  and Cathy immediately missed the warmth of Anne pressed up against her back. “Sorry if that made you uncomfortable, thought it’d made him go away faster. You alright?” Anne asked. There was a blush across her cheeks as she met Cathy’s gaze for a split second before dropping her eyes again.

“I’m fine, and of course not. Thank you for saving me,” Cathy said, prompting Anne to look back up at her with a happy grin.

After a moment of them both looking into each other’s eyes, Anne clicked her fingers in apparently realisation as she jumped back out of her chair. “Forgot the drinks! Back in a mo!” she yelled as she sprinted back towards the bar, leaving Cathy to watch her go with a giddy smile that she didn’t bother trying to conceal.

But by the time Anne returned after actually ordering their drinks the second time around, Cathy was just staring at the opposite wall with an empty look on her face. “Hey, you ok?” Anne asked, putting their drinks down on the table as she looked at Cathy worriedly.

Cathy shrugged, swallowing heavily before she spoke. “I don’t know. I don’t feel very well all of a sudden.”

“Do you want to go home?” Anne asked, not caring that she’d just brought two new drinks at the sight of her friend looking so unsettlingly grey.

Nodding, Cathy murmured a quiet “Yes please.”

Anne stood first and put one arm around Cathy’s waist to help her to her feet. Slowly they made their way out of the bar, but when Cathy caught her foot on the doorway Anne just about managed to react quickly enough to catch her albeit clumsily. “Woah, I got you. Let’s stop for a sec. You doing ok?” she asked, leading Cathy over to crouch down by the wall.

“I didn’t drink that much,” Cathy said as she sat down heavily, almost overbalancing sideways and needing Anne to correct her again. “It was only one double gin, that shouldn’t… I’m not… uhhh…”

She trailed off with a groan and cradled her head in her hands, prompting an increasingly worried Anne to rub her back gently as she breathed heavily. Seconds later she was vomiting on the pavement, her head pounding and her vision blurring so much that she could barely notice Anne’s hands holding her steady. She was sure she heard Anne say something in a voice rising with panic, but then her shaking limbs gave out and her eyes rolled upwards as she collapsed into Anne’s arms.

* * *

 

1am found Anne sat in a hospital waiting room with her knees pulled up to her chest.

The wait for the ambulance had been torturous, as all she could do was hold onto Cathy’s lifeless form in her trembling hands and pray for help to get there faster. Then they were both bundled into the back of the ambulance, Cathy on the stretcher bed with an oxygen tube in her nose and heart monitor beeping slowly while Anne just clung onto her hand and tried not to get in the way. Then they arrived at the hospital and Cathy was whisked away behind closed doors, and Anne was left alone.

Footsteps approaching made her look up to see a doctor standing by her. “Are you here for Miss Parr?” he asked.

“Yes,” Anne said immediately, jumping to her feet. “She’s alright, isn’t she? Please tell me she’s ok.” She hated the waver in her voice as she practically begged the doctor, but she was too terrified to care.

“She’s stabilised and will be absolutely fine,” he said, and Anne felt her knees go weak with relief as she sagged back into her chair. “She’ll need to remain here for a day or two for monitoring and will be back to full health before long. But we found something when we tested her blood, and we believe that her drink was spiked.”

Anne felt her blood run cold as the doctor spoke. Her first thought was how lucky Cathy had been that she wasn’t alone; her second was the man who Anne had found sat at their table as Cathy finished her drink. For several moments she was quiet, thoughts whirling faster than she could deal with them, before she looked up and asked “Can I see her?”

The doctor nodded. “She’s asleep for now but will most likely start to come around within the next few hours. But you’re welcome to stay with her.” He led her down a corridor into the ward, then pushed open a door labelled ‘C. Parr’ and motioned for her to go in.

Anne’s eyes instantly landed on Cathy lying motionless in the hospital bed, the only signs of life being the steady trace of the heart monitor and the shallow rise and fall of her chest. She dimly heard the door being closed behind her, the sound jolting her back to life from where she’d frozen for a moment. The sight of Cathy, brave beautiful Cathy, looking so small in a hospital gown beneath ghost-white sheets was enough to make her stomach turn.

Finally finding her feet again, she crossed the room and dragged a chair over to sit by Cathy’s bedside. As she went to take her hand again she paused when she saw the tube in the back of her hand connected to a bag of fluids, but after a second’s painful hesitation where the lack of physical contact became too much she resolved to just hold her hand carefully. She needed the feeling of Cathy’s skin on hers, the reminder that she was ok and that Anne hadn’t lost her.

Her phone flashing in the dimly lit room reminded her that she hadn’t checked her notifications since leaving the bar, and she opened her phone to see several unread messages from the rest of the queens. She didn’t bother reading them before she clicked on one contact and pressed the call button, holding her phone to her ear in a shaking hand.

“Finally! Why in God’s name haven’t you been answering anyone? I had to talk Jane down from going on a manhunt!”

Anne’s lip trembled at the frustration in Aragon’s tone, unable to say anything until the line had fallen quiet. “Catherine,” she said, her voice thin with barely contained panic.

“What is it? What’s wrong?” Aragon asked, suddenly sounding concerned.

“We’re in hospital.” The second those words were out in the open the dam broke, and she dropped Cathy’s hand to clamp her hand over her mouth in an attempt to stifle her sobs.

It was a long while before Aragon could make herself heard over Anne’s shuddering breaths. “Just breathe Anne, take a deep breath and calm down for a second,” Aragon said soothingly, and Anne hummed in affirmation as she gasped air into her lungs. After a few seconds Aragon continued “There you go, that’s better. Now slowly tell me what happened.”

Hearing Aragon’s firm voice down the phone felt like Anne had been thrown a life ring while she was drowning. “We- we were at a bar and someone spiked her drink,” she explained haltingly between breaths, pausing to wipe away the tears that streamed down her face. “She blacked out and I called an ambulance and now we’re at hospital. She’s sleeping but they said- they said she’ll be ok in a few days.”

“That’s a relief,” Aragon sighed, and Anne hummed again. They were both quiet for a minute before Aragon added “Do you want me to come down there with you?”

Anne considered it for a moment, before she shook her head. “No, it’s ok. They might not let anyone else in this late anyway,” she said, knowing it had to be well into the small hours. Her voice shook again as she asked “Can you come tomorrow though?”

“Of course I will dear,” Aragon said, and Anne smiled at both her answer and the term of endearment. “Try and get some sleep, and I’ll be there in the morning. Everyone has gone to bed but I’ll let them know what happened, you just worry about looking after yourself and Cathy. Ok?”

“Ok,” she echoed quietly.

Once the call was over, Anne looked back over at Cathy’s peaceful expression as she slept on. Figuring she ought to take Aragon’s advice if she didn’t want to hear about it in the morning, she pulled her chair closer to the bed and kicked her shoes off before tucking her legs underneath her so that she was curled up semi-comfortably in the armchair. Resting her head on her elbow and holding Cathy’s hand again, she continued to watch her soft breathing for a while until her eyelids eventually fluttered closed and she fell into an uneasy sleep.


	2. I want you so bad, I think you ought to know that

The first thing that Cathy became aware of was the faint beeping in the background. Then the dully throbbing pain in her head that made her groan softly. She went to lift her hand to her head but paused when someone’s fingers tightened around hers, prompting her to open her eyes. To her confusion it wasn’t her own four walls she saw when she looked around slowly, her vision blurring slightly as she turned her head, but her rising panic was quelled a little when she saw who was clinging onto her hand.

Anne was somehow curled up in an armchair a couple of feet away, gangly legs folded awkwardly underneath her in a position that hardly looked comfortable. She was asleep with her hair falling in front of her face, meaning that her holding onto Cathy’s hand was entirely subconscious.

Cathy smiled for a moment before she saw the tubes that had been taped into the back of her hand and crook of her elbow. That was when she remembered the beeping that had woken her up, and she glanced upwards to see a heart monitor as well as the two fluid bags that her IV drips were connected to. There was a tube in her nose too, lying uncomfortably on her skin and rubbing against her ears. She was in hospital. And while she could recognise how terrible she was feeling, she had no idea why.

Frantically trying to think back to the previous evening, her dread worsened as she realised the amount of gaps there were in her memory. She could remember going out with Anne, how Anne had linked their arms together as they walked down the road, but that was the last of it. Anything could have happened since then and Cathy was entirely clueless.

Her breathing quickened in her panic, a stray tear escaping down her cheek as her mind whirled uncontrollably with thoughts of what could have happened. Was there something really wrong with her? Was Anne ok? Did the others know what had happened?

The heart monitor’s steady beeping escalated as she panicked, flashing a warning just as Anne’s head flew up from her arm. She looked around disorientated for a moment before her eyes landed on Cathy and she uncurled her legs to sit on the edge of the bed. “Shh you’re ok Cathy, it’s alright you’re fine,” Anne said, grabbing Cathy’s hands in a role reversal of how they’d been when Anne had the first panic attack in front of her. “We’re in hospital but it’s ok, there’s nothing wrong and you’re gonna be fine in a bit. I’ve got you.”

Cathy nodded, then groaned again as the pain in her head increased sharply and her stomach turned. “What- what happened?” she asked, her voice cracking with how painfully dry her throat was. “I can’t remember anything, I know we went out last night but I don’t remember anything else.”

“We tried out the new bar last night and someone spiked your drink,” Anne said gently, giving a reassuring smile as Cathy’s expression dropped in shock. “There was a guy who approached you while I was at the bar, it must’ve been him. You were really sick and I called an ambulance and… and yeah, that’s how we’re here,” she finished lamely.

As Anne explained, Cathy noticed for the first time how pale her face was and the dark circles under her bloodshot eyes. Clearly the night had taken a toll on her as well.

“Do the others know?” she asked.

Anne nodded. “Yeah, I called Aragon last night and she said she’d come visit a bit later.” She paused to glance at the clock before correcting herself with “Well, maybe a lot later ‘cause it’s only 6 in the morning. You were out for about 9 hours.”

“Longest I’ve slept in a long time,” Cathy joked hoarsely, relieved when Anne cracked a tiny smile.

“Yeah, guess so,” she said, before her expression turned serious again. “They said you’d feel a bit rough for a while and you can probably go home tomorrow. And then I guess you can decide if you want to report him or not.”

Cathy thought for a moment, wishing she could remember what the man looked like or even what he’d done. “Probably,” she said after a while. “If I can remember enough to give a police report. I just wish I’d been more careful.”

“Hey, don’t go thinking this is your fault. That guy was the piece of shit, not you,” Anne said firmly, frowning for a moment before her expression softened. “And I’ll help you if you still can’t remember. I was there too y’know, you weren’t alone in this.”

She hummed in agreement, giving Anne’s hands a tender squeeze. “I know. And it’s thanks to you that I came out of this ok, so thank you Anne. It could have been a lot worse if I didn’t have you,” she said, looking earnestly at her friend.

Anne nodded in response, before her expression crumpled and she looked away at the ground. “Hey, what’s wrong?” Cathy asked, suddenly concerned.

“Sorry, I dunno why I’m upset when you’re the one who’s hurt,” Anne muttered, taking one hand back to wipe her eyes roughly. “I just… I was so scared when you blacked out that I was gonna lose you, and I dunno what I’d do without you because you’re amazing and I love you and it was really really scary.”

The confession didn’t go unnoticed by Cathy even in her groggy state, and she might have grinned with shock and joy if it wasn’t for the fact that her friend-turned-something was sobbing uncontrollably as all her fears from the past 12 hours came flooding out. “Come here love,” she said softly, opening her arms as Anne crawled up to lie next to Cathy while being painstakingly careful of the wires and tubes she was hooked up to. Cathy held her close as she buried her head in her chest, running fingers through her hair and whispering comforts into her ear. “I’m here, ok? I’m not going anywhere. I’ve got you and we’re ok.”

“Mhm,” Anne murmured, her voice muffled by Cathy’s hospital gown.

Cathy continued to run her fingers through Anne’s hair and rub soothing circles into her back, noticing as all the tension left her shoulders and she relaxed heavily into Cathy’s hold. “How much sleep did you get last night?” she asked quietly.

Anne shrugged. “I dunno. I think I fell asleep at like 2.”

“Do you want to sleep here?”

“Yes please. You’re comfy.”

Cathy smiled at Anne’s response. She could feel her own exhaustion taking over again, and the comforting weight of Anne lying against her was enough to pull her towards unconsciousness again. There was so much she wanted to say, so much they needed to talk about, but they had time for that. For the moment though, Cathy kissed Anne’s forehead before resting her head atop her hair and giving into sleep.

* * *

 

When Aragon creaked open the door a few hours later, she was hardly surprised by the sight that awaited her. Cathy was lying asleep in the hospital bed, monitors beeping a peaceful rhythm which quelled the fears that had kept Aragon awake most of the night. But tangled up in her embrace was none other than Anne Boleyn. While she might have been unhappy a few months ago when her regard towards Anne was still poor, their now close relationship meant that she only smiled fondly at the pair of them.

She kept her footsteps silent as she took a picture of them both, then made herself comfortable in a chair across the room while she texted it to Jane to reassure her that all was fine. She’d come down to the hospital on her own after filling in Jane on what had happened, and she knew that the other three queens would hurry down to join them as soon as Kat and Anna had woken up. That gave Cathy and Anne a few more hours of peace and quiet in each other’s arms.

Her goddaughter and her almost-foster-daughter. Aragon couldn’t help but feel like a proud parent.


	3. I intend to hold you for the longest time

The TV in her room was playing dimly as Cathy dozed lightly in the midmorning sunlight, not quite asleep enough that she couldn’t hear it but not awake enough that she was paying any attention to it. It felt too quiet without something making noise in the background, too used to living in a house with five not particularly quiet people to feel comfortable in silence anymore. The staff had been around with breakfast a little while ago, with Cathy feeling well enough to eat a proper meal for the first time since she was admitted thanks to the anti-nausea medication that she’d been given through an IV for the last 24 hours.  That drip had been disconnected along with the heart monitor, but she still had her oxygen tube and fluids drip hooked up while she waited out the last of the drug’s effects.

All the queens had spent most of the previous day with her, only leaving to do their evening show, and even though Anne had been granted another night off Aragon had practically dragged her home with them so that she could shower and sleep in a proper bed. They’d texted throughout the evening though, with Cathy grateful for Anne’s refusal to leave her feeling lonely even though she wasn’t there in person. She’d promised that she would come in as soon as they let her the following morning though, so Cathy was content to sleep the time away until her arrival.

The sound of the door opening made Cathy open her eyes and glance over, smiling when she saw Anne stood almost hesitantly in the doorway. “Hey you,” she said, walking over and sitting down on the edge of the bed. Cathy quickly noticed that she was clutching something behind her back, but decided not to call her out on it until Anne revealed it herself. “How are you feeling, sleepyhead?” she teased, though her genuine care still shone through.

“Oi,” Cathy said good-humouredly, yawning as she sat up slowly and changed the bed’s incline settings so she could still lean against the pillow. There had been chaos the previous day when Anna had discovered that the bed had a remote control, resulting in Jane confiscating the remote when she returned from the café to find Cathy, Anne, and Kat sat on a mattress that was above Jane’s eye level. “I think I’m allowed to be sleepy, thank you very much. But I’m feeling a lot better, thank goodness.”

Anne nodded with a smile. “Good good. What have the doctors said?”

Cathy hummed for a moment as she thought back to what she’d been told when she was reviewed the previous evening. “They think that I’m almost clear since I’ve stopped feeling nauseous and the ‘hangover’ is nearly gone,” she said, doing the finger quotes motion at ‘hangover’ with her un-tubed hand since it wasn’t really a hangover in the technical sense. “My memory hasn’t come back yet but they said it’s a typical case of drug-induced amnesia and will improve over the next few days. And I should be able to come home this afternoon.” She smiled brightly at that, looking forward to getting back to her own bedroom.

“That’s nice to know, I’ve missed having you around,” Anne said, ducking her head a little as her cheeks flushed a light pink. She seemed to hesitate for a moment, wringing her hands together nervously, but before Cathy could ask her what was wrong she inhaled deeply and spoke all in a hurry. “Look. There’s something I’ve wanted to tell you for a bit, and after- after what happened I want to tell you now because what scared me the most was that I thought I’d never be able to tell you it again.”

She looked like a deer about to bolt when she finished, prompting Cathy to reach out and take her hand. “What is it? I’m listening,” she said softly, running her thumb over Anne’s knuckles when she let out a shaky breath.

“Thanks,” Anne muttered, squeezing Cathy’s fingers as she pulled the mysterious item out from behind her back. It was a torn out page from her notebook which she unfolded as she explained “I’m not good with words sometimes so I wrote it down. I know I said it accidentally yesterday but I want to do it properly,” she said, glancing up to meet Cathy’s eyes. When Cathy smiled encouragingly at her she returned it weakly before beginning to read aloud.

_“Cathy. I don’t even really know what to say, because you’re the one who’s so amazing with words and all I can do is try to keep up. I wish I could have known you in my old life because I know we’d have been friends for sure, but I’m glad I know you in this life because this time round we’re allowed to be more than that. I think you’re amazing. You have the most lovely singing voice and your message in the show is really powerful but there’s more to you than that. I love how much you care about your work and how much you smile when you talk about it. I love how you always know what’s going through my mind. I love that snort you do when you’re laughing really hard. I guess I just love you. And maybe this is silly and a bit creepy because you’re elegance and beauty and I’m just an awkward mess who can’t deal with feelings but you’ve always been able to see that there’s more to me than just that. So maybe there’s hope that you might feel the same. Yours if you want me, Anne.”_

The hand held in Cathy’s was trembling as she finished, hanging her head and sighing roughly before she looked up at Cathy with tearful eyes. “So yeah, that’s it,” she finished, looking at her with the same unguarded hope that had shone in her eyes when Cathy had first held her in her arms. Her voice wavered a little as she added. “Say anything. Please just say anything.”

“You are silly, y’know.”

Anne looked up in horror at Cathy’s words, but Cathy just continued to stroke Anne’s hand as she smiled at her. “You’re no awkward mess. You’re witty, you’re clever, you’re kind, and you’re braver than you’ll ever give yourself credit for. I’ve admired you for nearly five hundred years and it’s an honour to call you my friend, but I’d like to call you something more because the only thing that can make me feel giddy is you smiling at me. You’re beyond brilliant, and I love you too Anne.” As she spoke, she watched as Anne’s terror turned into a beaming grin that could have outshone the sun.

They were both still for a moment, the air heavy with the weight of their confessions, before Anne abandoned her letter and moved closer to Cathy. “Oh just shut up and kiss me you poetic idiot,” she said, still grinning as she cupped Cathy’s jaw with a tentative hand.

“Coming from you,” Cathy quipped before leaning forwards to meet Anne’s lips.

The oxygen tube beneath Cathy’s nose bumped against Anne’s upper lip when they kissed, causing them both to laugh as they drew apart. Anne watched with wide eyes as Cathy unhooked the tube from around her ears and abandoned it next to her before tugging Anne’s arm to pull her in again, one hand buried in Anne’s hair and the other resting on her shoulder as they kissed.

Anne’s hands lingered at her jaw when they slowly parted for the second time, and Cathy felt like she could have drowned in her beautiful eyes as Anne slowly ran her thumb over her cheekbone. But then she gave an embarrassed smile and dropped her head to rest on Cathy’s chest, letting out a quiet “Hnnnnng” as Cathy laughed softly.

“What?” she asked, her hand running over Anne’s hair to rest at the nape of her neck.

“Told you ’m not good at feelings,” Anne mumbled into Cathy’s chest, wrapping her arms around her before almost whispering a quiet “Love you.”

Cathy beamed at that, overwhelmed by her own rush of emotions for a moment at the sight of Anne with every single defensive wall taken down. “I love you too,” she said, mindful of the tube in her hand as she adjusted her position so they were both lying down in the same position as they slept in the previous morning.

But this time Anne leaned up to kiss her cheek before resting her head in the crook of Cathy’s neck, and Cathy didn’t think she’d ever been happier.

**Author's Note:**

> All the title lyrics in this are taken from the last verse of 'For the Longest Time' by Billy Joel, because the entire song gives me such Parrlyn vibes. Anyway I've written these two dancing around their feelings for each other for long enough so I figured I'd finally give everyone what they really want <3
> 
> I'm lailaliquorice on tumblr :)


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